from word to action

Monday. Week Home Study. Working as the Director

As a mental/physical warm-up we practise the Dumb Show from Hamlet as individuals. Enter a King. Enter as another King. And another. And another still etc. This is the text:

Enter a King and a Queen very lovingly, the Queen embracing him, and he her. She kneels, and makes show of protestation unto him. He takes her up, and declines his head upon her neck. He lies him down upon a bank of flowers. She, seeing him asleep, leaves him. Anon come in another man ; takes off his crown, kisses it, pours poison in the sleeper's ears, and leaves him. The Queen returns, finds the King dead, makes passionate action. The poisoner, with some three or four, come in again, seem to condole with her. The dead body is carried away. The poisoner woos the Queen with gifts. She seems harsh awhile, but in the end accepts love.

We split into three groups. Each must perform it with all the information, without rushing it - in 90 Seconds. Then in 30 seconds. And 15... Teamwork. Group work. Collaboration. And of course. The action is a signifier. And it also has a signified: Queen. Poisoner. Death. Rejection. Acceptance etc.

STEVE MAKES A LITTLE SPEECH ABOUT SIMPLICITY. ABOUT WORKING ON THE BASICS. NOT TO HAVE GRAND IDEAS AT THE BEGINNING. IT'S TEMPTING BUT TRY TO RESIST THEM FIRST FOR THE BREAD AND BUTTER ONES. ABOUT CARPENTRY. MAKE A PLAY LIKE THAT PIANO AND YOU WILL HAVE DONE WELL.

We take up our Home Scripts. In four groups of four we try to come to a common understanding of what it means.

We come together, all sixteen. We talk about props. What would be the first we would get (to rehearse)? We decide upon the book. And the tea. Perhaps a cloth or a cushion for the seat. Then maybe the fire. The guns the soldiers carry.... And for the hut perhaps a simple curtain that can be opened.

We talk of the social class of Mohammad. Of the objective of the first soldier. And of the second. We discuss the relationship of Mohammad to Amila his wife. We think about what is the truth about his reading skills. About those of his wife. About the meaning of each phrase. About 'what is going on', moment to moment.

We talk about who may be the stronger of the two. About the reason she might read. Whether the son, Iusuf reads. How much social convention controls their lives. Which of the two soldiers they fear the most. Whether the second soldier can read. Or whether he's pretending he can't. About what the book really says. About whether there's any of it Mohammad can't read. About what he knows and what he lies about. What a Modern Man is. And a Modern Woman.

This is the script:

Home

Scene 1

The plains of a cold and mountainous region.

A man sits on the ground outside his mud-baked house. He has a radio, a book and a moped. A soldier enters from the north.

Good morning!

Good morning.

How are you, Muhammad?

I am well, thank you.

Good. May I stop with you a moment?

Of course. Visitor, will you join me in tea?

Thank you.

Amila, bring us tea! We have a guest!

From inside. Yes, my husband.

Kindly sit, foreigner.

Thank you but I prefer to stand.

And do put down your weapon.

Thank you, I prefer to hold it.

And you, visitor, are you well?

Thank you, I am well

Entering. Here is tea, my husband

Thank you, wife. Guest, please drink.

Thank you. This is delicious madam. I see you both have a book. This is good. Do you both read?

I have started.

And your wife?

Better than me.

But I see she still covers her head.

Yes, visitor. It is our custom.

Why does she do this, friend? This is the modern age. She must become someone. She must read on. She must take part.

I will see to it, honoured guest.

Tell her the stranger wants her to know how important it is.

I will, my guest.

Thank you. What delicious tea. I must go now. But don’t forget what I said.

I won’t, your excellency.

Good. Farewell.

May, God go with you, your excellency.

Thank you. And, Madame, thank you for such delicious tea.

She nods. He goes.

Wife. Take the cups back. And hurry. I see a stranger coming from the South. Cover yourself. Go inside. Do not come out unless I say.

Yes, husband.

She disappears.

Countryman! How are you?

I am well, thank you traveller. Kindly sit down and take tea with me.

Thank you, I will. But I prefer to stand.

Put down your weapon, though.

Thank you, I prefer to hold it. These are dangerous times.

Iusuf!

Father?

Ask your mother to give you tea to bring!

Yes Father!

Your son?

Yes.

How old?

Ten.

A good age. Nearly a man. Who was that stranger I saw leaving?

A soldier. From the north.

Did he give you that book?

The book? Yes, he did.

May I see it?

You are my guest.

Thank you

Iusuf comes out with the tea. Here is the tea, father

Thank you Iusuf. Set it down here. Now you may go.

He goes.

A good boy. This book, countryman. Did you open it?

Oh no, stranger.

But you saw the cover?

Only as it lay there.

You didn’t touch it?

No, stranger. It hasn’t moved.

Good. What does it say?

What?

What does it say? Here. On the outside part. You can read?

A little, stranger.

So what does it say?

I think it says. I think it says The Modern World

The Modern World

Yes

The Modern World. Now open it.

Open it?

Yes. Turn the pages.

Turn the pages?

Yes. Wait. Stop there. And what does it say under this picture of this man without a beard?

I think it says A Modern Man.

A Modern Man. Are you sure?

I think so.

A Modern Man. Turn some more pages.

If you wish, countryman.

Stop. That picture, there, why is this woman not covering her hair?

I don’t know visitor.

What do these words say?

I’m not sure, visitor.

Try.

I think it says A Woman In Her Own Home.

A Woman in her Own Home?

Yes, visitor.

Not A Modern Woman?

No, visitor.

Are you sure?

Yes, visitor.

This could still be a dangerous book, countryman.

You think, visitor?

Yes. You should be careful. I am a moderate man, friend, but reading can be dangerous.

I shall never do it again, visitor. Would you please be so good as to take it away from my house, visitor, or allow me to put it in the fire.

As you wish, friend. It is your book.

I will put it in the fire.

As you wish. And your wife?

What about my wife visitor?

Can your wife read?

No, visitor. She cannot read, visitor. Not a word.

That is good. Your wife is good. And does she cover herself, countryman? Does she stay in the house?

Of course, countryman. She is inside now.

Those things too are good. But now I must hurry. Thank you for your tea, brother.

Don’t mention it, countryman.

Your book, though. It doesn’t want to burn.

You are right, guest.

You must put some oil on it.

I will, guest, thank you. Iusuf!

Father?

Fetch the oil!

I will father!

You are not going the way you came, guest?

No. I am going north now.

Behind the soldier?

Behind the soldier. I have work to do. God willing I will succeed.

Farewell, then, my brother. God speed.

Farewell.

He goes.

Here is the oil. Father! Look! The new book!

Iusif.

The coloured one! It’s fallen in the fire! I will get it out!

Leave it, Iusif.

Father!

Go inside!

Father!

Go inside!

Entering. What is this racket, family?

Wife, the stranger is still on the path.

What is this racket?

Go inside.

Mamma, look what father’s done!

Husband, take the book out of the fire.

The stranger is still on the path.

Take it out at once!

Wife, I will not. If the stranger comes back and the book is not burnt there will be trouble.

Husband, pull it out. He has gone now!

Wife, he may come back, still.

There! It is saved.

Wife, you will be the death of us all.

Husband, you’re a fool.

Scene 2
The same. Later. Two men sitting together. One a soldier. There is no radio and no moped.

Peace.

Peace.

Yes. Thank you for this cup of water.

My honour, visitor.

Thank you for this place on the earth.

Nothing. I wish I could offer you food.

Nothing. Much has happened, countryman, since I last passed your door.

Yes.

The lord to the east, they say, has been given money for seed.

I had not heard that. I heard that the lord to the west has the ear of the foreign general.

I had not heard that. What else with you?

My son is dead.

Your son. He was a fine boy, I remember. And your wife?

She has lost her reason.

I never met her, friend.

No. She stays indoors.

Friend, fear not. I will not sit long.



Scene 3

Another place. A desk. A man.

Friends. We make progress. This has not been an easy time. For any of us. But we, the strong, will not forsake the forsaken. Be patient. Together we now tread the right path.

We Break.

When we return we do two exercises that Steve sometimes does with students. And sometimes with professional actors too.

1. The actors are to keep their focus on the other actor until s/he has finished speaking. Only then are they to look at the book for their next line. They are to read it but not speak until they are looking at the other actor again. Steve demonstrates with Sam. Students then split into pairs and try to get the hang of it themselves.

2. Whisperers. Each actor has a 'prompter' who reads her/his lines and then says them into her/his ear. Each actor has to keep their focus on the other actor at all time.

Peter, Rebecca, Joy, Tom, Georgina and Gary take it in turns. It's hard but gradually, with simplicity and relaxation, comes success. Particularly, Gary and Georgina with Peter and Rebecca's prompting get very clear.

We do a little experiment. We see if now, without the prompters, they lose what they have got with prompting. On the whole not. The prompters made them slow down. Allowed the audience to 'hear' the text - and its rhythms. This time there is less confidence to slow but not a lot less. Much has been retained.

They would not have far to go to get to the stage of getting 'off the book' with some confidence.

As a last thing we 'decide' that we want Gary to be less harsh as the second soldier. And we look into the way of doing it with our list of action verbs. The first time it doesn't work so well so Steve feeds him some of the action verbs some of us have suggested:

MOTHERS; ENCOURAGES; PLACATES; SUPPORTS ETC

Gary does a good job trying to play these instead of exposes, checks, blocks etc...

FINAL LITTLE BLAH BLAH from Steve. That Aston and Savona talk of three basic layers of Theatre History Cake. The Classic. The Bourgeois. And the Modern. That, generally, the Classic is often communal, often open air, sometimes religious, typically Greek, Roman and Medieval. That the Bourgeois becomes more and more indoor. More and more to do with class society and paying to see the show; typically Shakespeare moving through the Restoration Drama and into and through the 19th C. Finally the Modern which challenges the Bourgeois. Brecht, Meyerhold, Artaud etc.

That students should be aware of these broad categories but not be too seduced by them. For example: Beckett. He would seem to be 'modern'. Yet would Brecht call him so? Isn't Beckett showing you a world that is unchanging? In Waiting for Godot, our heroes wait, Godot doesn't come and the best that can be said is that they survive.

Yes? And? Is that all, might say Brecht? And what about Socialist Art as in the Social Realism of Soviet Art, say? Something that claims to be 'modern' but actually conforms in many ways to Victorian Realist painting?

And what about Soap Operas? What do they change? Don't they in fact succeed at that moment when you say: I know someone like that. That's just like the woman in our Chip Shop! Whereas Brecht would want you to dis-recognise the events on stage or screen and say: I can't believe that. That's not how it should be...

So, just this: BE AWARE OF THESE CATEGORIES TO HELP YOU UNDERSTAND THE BROAD SWEEP BUT EXAMINE EVERYTHING FOR THE EXCEPTIONS. AND CONTRADICTIONS.